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Places to Go

I will be in London in April for a week (Work Related) and would like to find out from you all here some good places to visit. Not the usual tourist stuff but fun places to go and maybe have a couple of pints and good conversation.

Its gonna sound funny from me but here we go.....

If you aren't being picked up from Heathrow, catch the British Rail Airport Express to Paddington, then Tube your way to where you're going - the Underground from Heathrow is horrendously expensive.

Don't miss Fifteen Restaurant in Islington - its owned by a celebrity chef called Jamie Oliver, and even though the Limeys hate him, my clients and family have said its worth it if you can get in. Most of the wine list is Australian as is the sommelier.

Harrods is not the same as it used to be, but still good fun especially for kids. If you think Abercrombie & Fitch has serious street cred - lay them in the aisles with your Marks & Spencer underwear, or your Saville Row suits and shirts (British tailors aren't as good as Hong Kong ones, but the label impact is considerable, old chap).

The museums are superb and the majority of them are free entry - don't miss the Science Museum in Kensington, the Tennis Museum in South Wimbledon, and the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden is fascinating. The Imperial War Museum in Lambeth is not to be missed nor the Hendon Air Museum in Colindale if war stuff floats your boat. A bit of advice - don't eat in the museum cafes unless you want to part with your money.

The beer is warm, the pork pies are cold and the people are as gloomy as the farking weather can be. Londoners hate the tube as much as they do tourists who blunder their way through it, so avoid rush hours. The taxi drivers are amongst the world's best, but the dearest. Avoid minicabs unless you wish to die - period.

Pub food is still good, and English pubs are the centre of many neighborhoods. One of the best days I had there was going to a Arsenal - Man. United game at Holloway, and celebrating in a pub in Finsbury Park afterwards, and seeing whole families there. Sunday afternoons at the pub is a great time, especially in regional towns like Swindon.

Don't drive in London at all. Parking prices are daylight robbery, the hated wheel clampers are everywhere, and there is a CBD tax in place now. Walk or tube it, and you'll love it.

Magic place to go - I love it, and I'll take my daughter with me next time.

I had a blast as a first timer...

I stayed with an ex-co-worker who lives in Chelsea during the Rugby World Cup semi-final weekend, and found the English to be extremely pleasant, as well as professional drinkers!

I did a bunch of sightseeing, as I had never been there, and I found the tube to be an amazing bit of engineering. We literally took it everywhere we went. Two things I wouldn't miss if I were you:

1. Cabinet War Rooms: A preserved 'bunker' that Churchill strategized with his Cabinet in during the blitz.

2. Tower of London: 1000 years of history here, including the beheading site of Anne Boleyn.

As for restaurants and pubs, I was only there 5 days, and I was in too many pubs to remember any one in particular, although there was one near Harrod's that just about did me in one afternoon! We also tipped a few at Ye Olde C0ck Tavern on Fleet. The best one was in Chelsea, right near the Fulham Broadway stop, and I can't remember the name. That's how good it was ;-)

We ate Indian, Iranian, and Japanese among others, and they were all great. The Iranian place is called Alounak, is in Notting Hill and is fairly well known (BYOB).

Re: Ok, not all Pommy beer is warm...

Re: Ok, not all Pommy beer is warm...

Did you know that pommy simply means (Prisoners of mother england),
and Pohm means (Prisoners of her majesy). And any aussie who says i did'nt know that is in denial, because australians learn this in primary school.